The wind was howling as I drove up and it was even worse out on course. I had heard that this course has been used for 3 years and every year it rained inches of the wet stuff. I could even see the hardened tracks from last years race. Made for some interesting riding. My hand was still bothering me and on these bumpy courses it hurts even worse; at least until the adrenaline beats the pain down.
My plan was to draft as much as possible, ala road racing, and then see what happens. There was quite a large group at the start and I couldn't resist. I went right to the front to try and get a separation on the first couple laps. I went as hard as I could for two laps, then looked around and there were 4 of us left. I pulled back to take a breather and by the 3rd lap we were lapping some of the A's. We were flying. But then the problems started happening for me. A lapped rider almost took two of us down and there was the separation for the front two, who just happened to be the two series leaders. Ugh....
I forced my fellow chasers to the front as much as possible until he cramped on the barriers. That's when I took off in pursuit. Suddenly I saw one of the leaders off the back, Jude. He was slowing down and didn't look in good shape. I told him to slow up and we could catch Jeff Mitchell who was the leader. Jude thankfully obliged because I was getting tired of chasing him. Once I went to the front though he fell off the back. Turns out he crashed and his brake was rubbing. Then, I noticed Jeff was slowing down too.
The top of the ramp where the trucks dump their grapes
With 3 to go I caught him and like the others, forced him to the front on the headwind sections. The last section was a paved straightaway onto a steep ramp where the wine trucks dump their grapes. Pretty cool finish. I punched it, almost swung too wide, almost hit a pedal, almost hit a pylon, almost, almost, almost...but not quite. Hit the finish line and saluted the sky. Beat Jeff in a sprint again. Almost never happens in cyclocross but has now happened two races in a row. Great racing with him. They gave us 3 bottles of wine for winning. That's how you justify this type of racing to wifey, especially if she loves wine!
The podium at Lange Twins Winery - wine for the winners!
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